Our Voices Matter Oral History Project: Interview with Ruth Dorey
Published 2013-09-12
This is an interview with Ruth Dorey. The interview was conducted by Anna Quon at the Belmont House on September 2, 2010 and at the Bloomfield Centre on September 16, 2010. This was the second interview conducted as part of the Our Voices Matter Project. The interview touches on a wide range of topics, including Ruth's childhood in Halifax, Nova Scotia, experiences with dissociative disorder, and other aspects of her personal life. The first interview was video recorded and a second supplementary interview was audio recorded. File contains a complete transcription of the audio interview; a transcription of the video interview is not available.
Ruth Dorey is a woman with dissociative disorder who lives in Dartmouth. Her birth father abandoned her family and her mother was very poor, often not able to feed her children well and physically abusive. At age 4, Ruth went to live with her great Aunt Jessie, who also had a mental illness. Ruth was first diagnosed with depression at 21, then with dissociative disorder at 41. She speaks of the difficulties with getting proper medical treatment and of her daily struggle to feel well. Ruth works part-time, is a videographer, and practices self-support and positive self-talk.